Battle Hymn of the Container Gardener

You cannot stop the growing here. 

The concrete jungle is no obstacle for green. Balconies overflow with vines and give way to trees that extend up to the next floor. Traffic bends slightly from the bulge of potted plants along the side of the road- presumably maintained by shop owners. Grasses grow out of the rooftops and door jams. It’s tropical here, so it’s a little easier, I think, to grow plants out of everywhere. But there’s some kind of culture of green. Amidst the concrete and steely cages of industrialization, green bursts forth from windows across the city. In balconies that are impossibly small, planters hang off wires many floors above the busy, polluted road below. It’s hard to capture just how committed the Taiwanese people appear to be when it comes to container garden, but I have serious respect for their love of green. In particular, I’m really stunned by the living walls that adorn the outer walls of many construction sites throughout the city. Some are more creative than others. But, rather than endure the mess, noise, dust and general eye-sore nature of a construction site by the side of the road, these dusty pits are often surrounded by walls hanging with tiny pots and filled with some kind of green. It’s such a beautiful, perfectly rational use of space and nature. And if you’re thinking right now, this is a bit of an odd post, I will defend myself by saying, this year had led me to get in touch with my inner gardener, and also I’m ridiculously tired. With that, I will retire for the night!